JadeCraven.Org – My Nature Blog

St Helens Boat Ramp at Night: September 2023

September 25, 2023 by Jade Craven

I was on such a high at the end of last week, largely thanks to getting clear photos of favourite species. I was keen to return to St Helens a night to see what additional critters we could find.

It ended up being a bit of a crapfest. Previously, this area had been pretty quiet. This small harbour was mostly vacant during the pandemic. It took a while for visitors to start returning to Geelong despite all restrictions being removed. I didn’t realize how spoiled this made us when it came to finding marine life. There were more boats attached to the floating pontoons, so we made sure to keep out distance. We mostly stuck to the boat ramps.

I struggled to find anything new other than a couple of shrimp.

I’ve decided to back off from this location for the rest of the summer, especially as activity is likely to increase. This means I’ll be mostly restricted to Eastern Beach, unless I want to turn an adventure into a daytrip. I’m leaning towards stepping back from marine life in general this summer and focus on getting my health/life in order. This will help me in future seasons 🙂

Marine observing + heat intolerance do not mix!

Other Marine Life At St Helens

September 24, 2023 by Jade Craven

These photos were taken on February 21, along with the Botrylloides and other sea squirts. I’ve put the images on iNaturalist but haven’t tried to identify them. This is because I’m overwhelmed by the sheer amount of marine life. There are so many different taxonomic groups.

The above is likely to be a calcareous sponge Possibly belonging to the genus Sycon.

According to Wikipedia,

These sponges are small, growing up to 7.5 cm with a length from 2.5 to 7.5 cm, and are tube-shaped and often white to cream in colour. They are known to aquarium hobbyists as “Pineapple” or “Q-Tip” sponges, and are frequent “hitchhikers” accidentally brought in.

This website has more information about Sycon sponges.

Learning More About The Sea Squirts At St Helens

September 23, 2023 by Jade Craven

I recently went to St Helens to get photos of Botyrlloides. I did have an additional motive: I wanted to get more photos of various sea squirts to help me learn more about them.

I understand that all ascidians are sea squirts. However, these images show the type of marine life that I always assumed were sea squirts. I don’t know if they are related taxonomically in a way that other ascidians aren’t. Regardless, I want to learn about and start documenting these guys.

Botrylloides Galore At St Helens

September 22, 2023 by Jade Craven

I recently shared how I discovered a colony of Botrylloides Diegensis at Eastern Beach. I was contacted the next day asking if a local field nats group could use my photo as part of a future guide.

I instantly agreed, but part of me was reluctant because the photo was so blurry. I figured out what was causing the issues with focus and decided to return to St Helens with the goals of getting better photos.

My trip was a success. I was able to get photos showing different colours and it growing on different substrates. I’m impressed with the quality of the photos, especially as I was dangling my arm over the edge of the pontoon and hoping to get the image in focus. It allows me o see more of the key features, which will make it a lot easier to learn what they actually are.

I’m now uploading all images to iNaturalist to help me keep track of my observations.

Botrylloides Diegensis Found at Eastern Beach!

September 21, 2023 by Jade Craven

I was in town and decided to have a quick look at Eastern Beach to see if any marine life was visible from the shore.

Unfortunately, a heavy burst of rain hit while I was exploring. I had to hide undercover for about 50 minutes while it bucketed down. The rain eventually passed and I started exploring Fishermans Pier.

Fishermans Pier is the name we call a small marina next to the larger harbour area. It is actually the name of the restaurant on the side of the area. There is this floating pontoon next to the area where the hellcopter leaves from. This area is mostly blocked off, but wasn’t during large parts of the pandemic. We were able to walk along the pontoon and see some awesome marine life.

We haven’t been However, there was a sort pier(?) next to the pontoon. I lied down on that, got a couple of photos and, alas, my camera died.

It turns out that having a certain feature turned on in the Olympus TG 6 will cause the battery to drain, even when the camera is switched off.